Obama’s Bipartisan, “Methodical” Health Care Blueprint
A “methodical” path forward on health care legislation was the promise made by President Obama on Thursday night in his most extensive remarks yet concerning the fate of health care reform on Capitol Hill since Republicans ended the Democratic Senate supermajority with Scott Brown’s election victory last month.
While the White House has been forced to present the economy and jobs as the number one priority for the president and Congress, Obama told Democrats at a DNC fundraiser in Washington on Thursday that he is determined to pass a health care bil and that Congress must “move forward” on legislation. But the timeline for a vote will most likely be pushed back by weeks to accommodate the president’s desire for “methodical” negotiations that result in a bipartisan package that is accepted by frustrated Americans.
Obama stressed bipartisanship in his remarks to Democrats on Thursday, laying out his hope for “sitting with the Republicans” and hammering out a viable compromise, then focus on selling a finished product to voters by clearing up misconceptions about the scope of health care reform. The president said he wants to deal with “information out there that people understandably are concerned about.”
Speaking to enthusiastic supporters at a fund-raiser here, President Obama on Thursday evening presented his clearest plan yet to move forward with comprehensive health care legislation, saying that he wanted to meet with Democrats, Republicans and independent experts, lay out the facts for the American people and then, he said, “I think that we have got to move forward on a vote.”
Mr. Obama said he would first work with Congress to enact a jobs package that would encourage new hiring, which he said was “the thing that is most urgent right now, in the minds of Americans all across the country.” But he also said that he wouldtake the time to refute false statements and misunderstandings about the health care legislation and to hear alternate ideas from Republicans.
After “several weeks” of work, he said, he would be prepared to live with whatever decision is made by Congress, but he also warned that voters, too, would be watching and would decide at the polls in November whether lawmakers had made the right choice.
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“What I’d like to do is have a meeting whereby I am sitting with the Republicans, sitting with the Democrats, sitting with health care experts and let’s just go through these bills,” Mr. Obama said. “Their ideas,our ideas. Let’s walk through them in a methodical way, so that the American people can see and compare what makes the most sense. And then I think that we have got to move forward on a vote. We have got to move forward on a vote.”
Mr. Obama said that Americans were apprehensive about the health care legislation because there was too much misinformation that he would now work to clear up.
“They are certain that they would have to go onto a government plan, which isn’t true,” the president said. “But that’s still a perception a lot of people have. They are still pretty sure that they would have to give up their doctor. They are still pretty sure that if they are happy with their health care plan, that it’s bad for them. They are still positive that this is going to add to the deficit. So there is a lot of information out there that people understandably are concerned about.”
Obama’s comments come at a crucial time for the stalled debate over health care. Initial talk of speeding a bill through Congress by the end of this week has disappeared as talk of the death of health care reform becomes more prevalent. Any legislation faces a tough road ahead now that Republicans control 41 seats in the Senate and the weapon of the filibuster. The current plan that was held in limbo after passing the Senate but stalling in the House now scrapped, the White House and congressional Democrats have no choice but to follow the directives from the president to craft a more limited bipartisan measure.
The new deadline for health care is the President’s Day recess beginning after next week. Democrats on Capitol Hill have privately predicted that attempts at reform would be shelved for good if at least an outline for legislation isn’t in place by the time Congress heads off to break.
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The smart politics right now is to get a jobs bill passed first and then a financial reform bill second. The focus on the economy should be of the utmost priority. Then the pivot to health care reform.
Health care reform is going to PASS this year. Bank on it.
No to higher taxes that will destroy jobs. No to government mandates to buy inferior insurance people don’t want or need. No to catastrophic cuts to Medicare. No to tax breaks for Unions that no one else gets. No to dirty back room deals to buy votes. No to all the lies used to sell Health Care Reform like the lie Obama told about keeping your insurance and doctor.(LOL) NO TO OBAMACARE!!!